Tag: Stained glass

Beautiful panel signed by M. Pla y Vilar. Remember that morning & sunset are the best times to peek inside mausoleums to find these gems. To see more examples, type “stained glass” into the search bar. Happy holidays to everyone, & thanks very much for all the support this year. Hope you’ve enjoyed Recoleta Cemetery as much as we do!

Imposing but built on one of the more narrow paths of the cemetery, the mausoleum for the Familias de Francisco de Atucha y Azcuénaga y de Saturnino Sarasa is notoriously difficult to photograph. Even more difficult to see is the beautiful stained glass window inside… but it’s worth the effort:

At the beginning of the 20th century, Jorge Atucha purchased some 35,000 hectares from the Duggan family. The estate, located on the northern border of the Provincia de Buenos Aires, took the name “El Pelado“—perhaps Jorge was balding at the time!—& soon became a thriving cattle ranch. The family’s fortune grew when a branch of the Urquiza train line arrived to the estate in 1913 & carried its products to the capital. The station was named Sarasa after the last name of Jorge’s mother.

As the estate grew, so did the number of people needed to work it. By 1925, a small town began to emerge in order to provide services to estate workers. Unfortunately “El Pelado” did not survive the political & economic crisis following the departure of Perón. In later years, the last military dictatorship stopped train service, & the town currently has a population of under 100 people.

But the estate is still recognized as one of the oldest & best breeders of thoroughbred race horses in the nation. And in spite of fortunes that come & go, the Atucha family obviously did very well for themselves. Their tomb was designed by French architect René Sergent, although he never visited Buenos Aires. The beautifully crafted door & crowning angels would certainly draw much more attention if this tomb had been built on a main walkway.

When the Atuchas spent time in Buenos Aires, their residence was located near Recoleta Cemetery on chic Avenida Alvear… just opposite the Palacio Ortiz Basualdo. Sold long ago, the house was divided into several apartments & contains one of the few faux, painted façades in Buenos Aires & is easily visible from busy Avenida 9 de Julio.

Although this post was meant to showcase only the spectacular stained glass window, the following comment by Ricardo Martine Tanoira deserves to be translated & placed here:

My great-grandfather, Carlos Zamboni, was the son of Silvestre Zamboni, founder of an ironworks in Buenos Aires [that bore his last name]. Carlos arrived in Argentina at the age of 12. Silvestre, his father, and his older brother moved to Argentina one year before. Carlos married Josefina Ciarlo, & they had 10 children together. Their youngest daughter, Josefina, was my grandmother. Silvestre Zamboni passed away in Buenos Aires & is buried in this Recoleta vault. The stained glass above can be found inside & belongs to my family, descendants of Sylvestre Zamboni.

Although very much deserving a spot in Recoleta Cemetery, it’s amazing that Lavalle ever made it here. His remains traveled almost as much as those of Eva Perón.

Juan Galo de Lavalle was born in 1797 in Buenos Aires, a direct descendant of Hernán Cortés. Amazing but true. He spent a good portion of his childhood in Santiago de Chile, but the family returned to Buenos Aires in 1807. Five years later at the age of 15, he joined the Granaderos where he fought under the command of Alvear & eventually served under San Martín in the Ejército de los Andes. Lavalle participated in many of the major battles of independence, reaching the rank of coronel.

Lavalle found a moment to marry a woman from Mendoza, but he was soon placed on the battlefield again during the war with Brazil (1825-28). As a result of the war, Uruguay was created as a buffer state between Argentina & Brazil. The peace agreement signed by Manuel Dorrego drew feelings of resentment at the loss of the opposite bank of the Río de la Plata & internal tensions grew.

Salvador del Carril & others convinced Lavalle to support an alternative government, against that of Dorrego & Juan Manuel de Rosas. Even though they had been childhood friends, Lavalle ordered the execution of Dorrego who had been captured. It was a decision he would regret for the rest of his life. Instead of resolving an internal conflict, Dorrego’s execution sparked a civil war.

Lavalle went into exile to Uruguay & commanded forces from there in an effort to defeat Rosas. But in 1840, the troops of Rosas managed to chase Lavalle all the way to northwest Argentina. Discovering where Lavalle was spending the night in San Salvador de Jujuy, troops shot at the house & Lavalle was mortally wounded. He died in 1841.

Officers were ordered to decapitate Lavalle’s body & display the head publicly, but troops loyal to Lavalle took his body further north. The next bit is particularly gruesome. Decaying & difficult to manage, they removed Lavalle’s flesh from the bones, placed his heart in a jar with alcohol & his head in a jar of honey. Lavalle was eventually laid to rest in Potosí, Bolivia. The following year Lavalle was moved to Valparaiso, Chile & only in 1861—after the destitution of Rosas—could Lavalle return to Buenos Aires & be buried in Recoleta Cemetery.

The tomb should be better maintained, but one nice feature is a Granadero statue standing guard. The sword has been broken off several times (now in the admin office for safekeeping), & a plaque states:

Soldier! Guard his sleep &, if he wakes, tell him that his country admires him!

Some sources claim that the statue is a work of Luis Perlotti, but after examining the sculpture closely there is no visible signature. Perlotti typically signed all his work, like the statue of Luis Ángel Firpo & a large number of plaques. The base display the following text: Arsenal Naval, B. Aires, Dársena Norte, so the Navy likely funded the statue. More research to be done…